The Moment I Knew
by TimeLady-12
Summary: Maisie Stewart has been best friends with the Weasley twins for six years. She's fun, loud and wears her heart on her sleeve. This is the story of her ups, downs and everything in between. (Set from GoF-DH and probably a bit beyond.) George/OC
1. Chapter 1

The Moment I Knew

* * *

Chapter One- Meeting the Dursleys

* * *

I woke up that morning feeling incredibly excited and unable to keep any sort of smile off of my face. I could see the sun shining through my curtains and despite the fact that I wanted to curl back up in my duvet and go back to sleep, I knew I would be too excited to do that. So rolling onto my side (and falling off of my bed in the process), I stood up and made my way downstairs.

I quickly buttered two slices of toast before hopping in the shower and getting dressed. Unfortunately for me, I'd put off packing until the very last minute; something I was now bitterly regretting. I was due to arrive at the Burrow at ten in the morning. It was currently quarter past nine and I'd only packed the things that I'd never actually taken _out_ of my trunk in the first place.

So keeping a keen eye on the time, I hastily hunted high and low in every corner of my room for everything I'd misplaced throughout the holidays- robes, books, shoes, clothes. I'd lost virtually everything somehow. I'd ended up stuffing most of it unfolded into my trunk, something I knew would give my mum a heart attack if she knew and I grinned slightly at the fact that she _wouldn't_ know.

My mum and dad were currently visiting my older brother James in Australia, who was studying foreign diseases as his work as a healer. Although I hadn't seen my brother in over a year, I'd had to stay at home while my parents left, opting instead to go to the Quidditch World Cup, an event I knew I could not decline. Especially not when I'd been invited by one of my favourite family's in the world: the Weasley's.

Having to sit on top of my trunk to order to actually close it, I glanced at the clock again to see it was just after ten o'clock, for once I was actually running on time which was a bloody miracle.

Dragging my trunk after me down the stairs (cursing loudly when it dropped on my foot), I struggled into the living room and pulled my trunk into the fireplace. Taking one more look around the room, I grabbed some floo powder, took a deep breath and shouted,

"THE BURROW!"

Floo powder was definitely not my favourite way to travel as I tumbled onto the worn rug in front of the Weasleys fireplace. Dust now covered my clothes and face, and my hair felt incredibly matted. Getting up onto my feet, I looked around expectantly trying to catch sight of someone while trying to rub myself free of dirt and make my hair look relatively reasonable.

Catching sight of the Weasley's clock, I saw that everyone seemed to be home except Mr Weasley, who I assumed was at work. Which added to the mystery of why it seemed so quiet. I decided my best bet would be the kitchen; knowing the Weasleys, it was extremely likely that at least one of them would be in there. Immediately being proved right, I saw Mrs Weasley standing in front of the sink, using her wand to peel a large pile of potatoes. Clearing my throat quietly so as not to alarm her too much, I smiled widely as she turned around and clapped her hands together.

"Maisie, dear! I was wondering when you would get here. I hope you've had a good summer so far." My smile turned into a fully blown grin upon hearing her speak. I'd missed this place far too much.

"It's been great, Mrs Weasley." I replied, happily. "My parents are in Australia visiting James so I've been home alone for the last few days."

"Oh, you should have said, dear! It would have been no trouble having you here a few days earlier. And I've told you multiple times to call me Molly." Laughing at her fake stern expression, I nodded.

"Sorry Molly."

"It's okay, dear. Fred and George are de-gnoming the garden if you're looking for them. Hermione arrived just a couple of hours before you did; her and Ron are up in his room if you'd rather see them."

"Oh no, it's okay. I don't mind helping Fred and George. We don't get gnomes in our garden." The reason why was beyond me considering I couldn't remember the last time anyone in our family had actually done any gardening. It was the perfect place for gnomes, but _they_ didn't seem to think so. "Would you like me to move my trunk?"

"Oh, there's no need for you to do that, dear. I'll get Bill or Charlie to move it up to Ginny's room in a bit."

"Okay, thanks Molly." I smiled, waving slightly as I walked out of the kitchen and into the garden, where, true to Molly's word, I saw Fred and George flinging multiple gnomes over the fence.

"That was pitiful." I heard Fred say to his brother. "You barely got it past the stump."

"You try getting it past that stump when the little git's holding onto your finger by its teeth." Snapped back George.

Trying to be quiet and sneak up on them, I quickly lost the element of surprise as I tripped over a discarded bucket and fell flat on my face. Groaning, I raised my eyes to meet those of one of my best friends, George Weasley.

"Why is it that every time I see you, you're tripping over something?" he laughed, helping me to my feet.

"Because I am incredibly elegant and you just can't handle it." I replied, letting go of his hands to shove off Fred's arm which was now draped over my shoulders.

"Of course, George. How could you not know that?" asked Fred, sending his brother a pointed look.

Rolling his eyes, George grinned as we walked back towards where a line of gnomes were trying to sneak their way back into the garden. "So how long have you been here?" he asked, picking up a gnome and throwing it back over the fence.

"About five minutes." I replied, grabbing my own gnome and twirling it over my head. "I was just talking to your mum." I frowned when I saw them stiffen at the mention of their mother. "What is it?" Fred mumbled something inaudibly. "What?"

"We got into an argument." He said again, louder.

"An argument?" I repeated, frowning.

"Yeah. We'll tell you inside. It looks like mum's going to ask us to do _more_ housework. Honestly, we've been doing it all morning…" Said George, grabbing my hand and pulling me quickly inside and upstairs to their room.

I loved the twins' room. Filled with odd bits and bobs (most of which I had no idea what they even were), it was like an obstacle course to cross the floor without injuring yourself. Especially for me with my accident-prone self. Parts of the walls and floor were also covered with large, black burn marks from various accidents and explosions that had happened in the past, although I saw that a lot of them looked fairly recent.

"So are you going to explain or what?" I asked, sitting myself down on George's bed.

"We got our O.W.L results the other day." Started Fred, glumly.

"And mum wasn't very impressed." Continued George.

"Why?" I asked, half expecting the answer.

"We only got three each." I nodded at his response. In all honesty, I knew the twins would not get a lot of O.W.L's. Not that I thought they that weren't smart- far from it- but they never focused on their school work as much as they did on other things. School work just didn't interest them; inventing their own joke-shop products did and it showed.

"That's not too bad." I said, gently.

"Try telling that to our mum." Muttered Fred, bitterly. "You'd have thought we'd have failed _everything_ by the way she was going on about it."

"She can't understand why we would want to open a joke shop." Explained George. "She wants us to work at the ministry like dad does and can't seem to get it into her head that we find it mind-numbingly boring."

"What O.W.L's did you both get, anyway?" I asked, quite curious about the answer.

"We both got defence and charms." Said George.

"And I got transfiguration and George got herbology of all subjects…" said Fred, giving his twin an odd look. "No guesses to what you got though." He smirked, causing me to raise my eyebrows.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"Please." Scoffed George. "There is no doubt that you got all ten of your O.W.L's. At outstanding level."

Trying to refrain from blushing, I smiled slightly while muttering, "I actually got exceeds expectations in history of magic and care of magical creatures…"

"Whatever." Said Fred. "I seriously do not understand how you did that well. You barely did any more work than we did!"

"Yeah, but I _did_ listen in class." I countered. The twins merely glared at me.

* * *

The next day, I was informed that Mr Weasley would be going to pick up Harry to bring him back to the Burrow. Upon asking who wanted to join him, me, Ron, Fred and George immediately walked over to where he was standing beside the fireplace because, you guessed it, we were going by floo powder.

"This is going to be the perfect opportunity to try out one of our products." George whispered into my ear. I grinned up at him, highly aware of the faint blush covering my cheeks at his closeness. I'd always been a little closer to George than I had to Fred for reasons that eluded me. For some reason, I got along with George better, and he was always the one that I ended up going to when I needed any comfort of some sort. I confided in Fred too, of course, but I didn't think he understood me as well as George did. But I'd never _blushed_ around him.

"Which product?" I whispered back.

"You'll see."

Unfortunately for all of us, Mr Weasley had not planned our arrival very well. While he'd managed to connect Harry's fireplace to the Floo Network, he'd failed to realise that he didn't have an open fireplace, resulting in all of us piling up behind Harry's fireplace.

Seeing as I was the one to follow Mr Weasley, I ended up squished up against his back as Fred appeared behind me.

"Ouch!" shouted Mr Weasley, who was being pressed up against the fireplace. "Maisie, go back, oh! Fred, no- go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake- tell George not to- OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron…"

"Maybe Harry will hear us, dad- maybe he'll be able to let us out!" said Ron, who had flooed in before we could stop him. I was now beginning to feel _very_ uncomfortable and I was pretty sure my foot was going numb.

"Fred, seriously, you're elbowing me in the back!" I complained.

"Are you sure it's my elbow, Maise?" he joked, causing me to try and move away while shouting (very loudly), "Ewww! Ew! Ew! Fred!"

"I was joking! Geez…"

"Harry! Harry! Let us out!" I yelled, with the others. "Get me _out_ of here!"

I let out a sigh of relief when I heard Harry on the other side of the fireplace. "Mr Weasley?" he called. "Can you hear me? Mr Weasley, it's Harry…the fireplace has been blocked up. You wont be able to get through here."

"Damn!" said Mr Weasley, almost head butting me as he moved his head backwards. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"They've got an electric fire."

"Really?" asked Mr Weasley, excitedly. I smiled at his enthusiasm. Despite being pure-blood myself, my family had grown up in a large muggle inhabited area, so I knew a lot more about muggle technology than a lot of pure-bloods. Not everything, but I knew quite a bit. "Ecklectic, you say?" continued Mr Weasley. "With a _plug?_ Gracious, I must see that…let's think…ouch, Ron!" Ron had managed to maneuver himself to the front, elbowing everyone in the process.

"What are we doing here?" he asked. "Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh, no, Ron." Said Fred sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here." Continued George, who I now realised was crushed up against a side wall.

"Boys, boys…" scolded Mr Weasley, half-heartedly. "I'm trying to think what to do…"

"We could blow it up." I suggested with a grin, thinking of all the scorch marks in the twins room. I heard a very loud 'NO!' come from the other side of the fire while the twins cheered in agreement behind me.

"Yes…" said Mr Weasley. "Yes…only way…stand back, Harry."

"Wait a moment!" bellowed Harry, a slightly worried tone seeping into his voice. "What _exactly_ are you going to-"

I barely had time to brace myself before Mr Weasley blasted a hole in the fireplace, causing all five of us to go crashing forward in a huge cloud of rubble and loose chippings onto Harry's living room rug. I ended up in a Weasley sandwich, lying between Ron and Fred who had been respectively in front and behind me. I rolled over onto my back (taking Fred with me) before taking George's outstretched hand to stand up (which seemed to be becoming a _very_ frequent habit).

"That's better." Breathed Mr Weasley, dusting off his robes. "Ah- you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!"

Looking to the side, I hadn't even registered the two other people in the room, although I knew who they were immediately. Harry's uncle Vernon, who was incredibly fat and had a _very_ impressive mustache, and his aunt Petunia, who was the exact opposite of her husband being very thin with a strangely long neck. Even by sight, I could tell they weren't very nice people. Or maybe that was just because of everything Harry had told me about them. Whatever it was, I didn't like the way he looked at Mr Weasley like he was the dirt under his shoe.

"Er- yes- sorry about that." said Mr Weasley, casting a guilty look over to the now destroyed fireplace. I would have felt bad for the Dursleys if they weren't such terrible people. "It's all my fault, it just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see- just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking- but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys and Maisie back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I disapparate." I had to restrain a laugh from the completely bewildered and confused look on Harry's aunt and uncle's face. They didn't look like they'd understood a single word that had just come out of Mr Weasley's mouth. Mr Weasley, however, seemed completely oblivious to this as he turned towards Harry.

"Hello, Harry! Got your trunk ready?"

"It's upstairs." Replied Harry, who was grinning at the entire exchange that had just taken place.

"We'll get it." volunteered Fred, making me narrow my eyes at his quick offer. _Suspicious much?_

"Well…" said Mr Weasley, now highly aware of the awkward silence that everyone seemed to share. "Very- very nice place you've got here." I scoffed as I looked around. Maybe on a regular day it was nice, but we'd completely destroyed the living room. But having said that, it would probably do these people some good to have some mess in their lives. They seemed _far_ too prim and proper to me. "They run off eckeltricity, do they?" asked Mr Weasley, gesturing towards the television and video player in the corner. "Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs. And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad but there you are." I could see that the Dursley's definitely agreed that Mr Weasley was mad, but I refrained from saying anything until I saw someone who was undoubtedly Harry's cousin Dudley enter the room. And then I said something that caused a very unexpected reaction.

"Did you know that the only animal to get sun burnt other than humans is the pig?" I said, trying to break another silence that we'd entered.

Upon my words however, Dudley raced behind his father covering his bum with both hands, Harry's uncle went extremely purple in the face and looked as if he would like nothing more than to strangle me, and his aunt shrieked and stood slightly behind her son as if to surround him from any harm. I could have sworn she'd started crying after my words. And then I remembered what Harry had told us all once; that Hagrid had given Dudley a pig's tail and had been terrified of anything magicical ever since. _Merlin…he probably thinks that I'm going to turn them all into full-on pigs now…_

Mr Weasley gave me a look of mild concern before turning towards Dudley, his face now full of concern as to why he was looking so worried and clutching his bottom so hard it looked as if he was afraid it was about to disappear.

"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he asked, kindly. Dudley merely whimpered in response.

It was at this point that Fred and George re-entered the room carrying Harry's trunk, now sporting matching evil grins at the sight of his cousin. I had long since become weary of this look. While it usually resulted in something highly amusing for all of us, the victim (which was usually an unsuspecting Slytherin or first year) ended up incredibly worse-off.

"Ah, right." Said Mr Weasley, not noticing his sons grins. "Better get cracking then. _Incendio_!" Barely registering the Dursleys flinching against the wall, I watched as Mr Weasley opened up a pouch full of floo powder and threw a pinch into the now roaring, green fire. "Off you go then, Fred."

"Coming." Said Fred. "Oh no- hang on-" A bag of sweets had 'accidently' dropped out of Fred's pocket, causing the contents to scatter all over the floor. There was not a doubt in my mind that this was the 'trying out' of one of their products. Although that did make me wonder why he started to pick all of the sweets up before stepping into the fire, giving the Dursley's a very cheerful wave, and shouting "The Burrow!", disappearing in a roar of flames.

"Right then, George, you and the trunk." George gave me a quick wink once he'd stepped into the fire, causing me to cock my head to the side in amusement. "Ron, you next."

"See you." said Ron, brightly towards the Dursleys. "The Burrow!"

"Harry, if you go next, and then Maisie can follow…"

Harry nodded in response. "Well…bye then." He said to the Dursleys. I watched as Harry moved towards the fireplace only to be held back by Mr Weasley, who was looking at the Dursleys in amazement.

"Harry said goodbye to you. Didn't you hear him?"

"It doesn't matter." Muttered Harry. "Honestly, I don't care."

"You aren't going to see your nephew 'til next summer." Continued Mr Weasley, not moving an inch. "Surely you're going to say goodbye."

I can honestly say that I had never until this point seen someone care so little for family. I was amazed at the looks that flittered over Harry's uncles face- as though it pained him to have to say something to his only nephew. I found myself incredibly thankful I had a family that loved me. "Goodbye, then." Growled his uncle, reluctantly.

"See you." replied Harry in the same tone, now able to step into the fire. But before he could utter a single word, all of our attention was directed onto a horrible gagging noise courtesy of Dudley, who was kneeling beside the coffee table and gagging on a very long, purple _thing_ protruding from his mouth. And then I realised, Fred had left one of his ton-tongue toffee's they'd been working on late last year. I didn't think they'd actually finished developing them, but I could only marvel at the results for one more second before Mr Weasley stepped in front of me with his wand out-stretched.

"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he shouted over everyone else's yells. I exchanged a grin with Harry, the only other person in the room that seemed to find the situation remotely funny. "No, really!" insisted Mr Weasley, seeing the Dursleys step protectively in front of their son. "It's a simple process- it was the toffee- my son Fred- real practical joker- but it's only an engorgement charm- at least, I think it is- please, I can correct it-" He sent me an exasperated look as if I could fix the situation (to which I merely shrugged) as the Dursleys continued to shriek and shout, and I almost went to step forward when Harry's uncle threw a rather large china figure from a nearby table at Mr Weasley's head. "Now, really! I'm trying to _help!_ " But Harry's uncle responded simply by picking up another ornament. "You two, just go! Go! I'll sort this out!"

I left just as a third ornament flew across the room, narrowly missing my face as I spiraled out of there and back to where Fred and George were grinning in anticipation.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two- Declaring Undying Love

* * *

"Did he eat it?" was the first thing I heard as I arrived back at the Burrow for the second time in two days. I glanced to my right to see Fred giving Harry a helping hand up as he awaited an answer, leaving me to get to my own feet as I saw George focused on Harry as well.

"Yeah." said Harry, brushing the dust from his clothes. "What _was_ it?"

"Ton-tongue toffee." Replied Fred, his grin getting even wider. "George and I invented them, we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer and for some reason, George wouldn't let me test it on Maisie."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, giving the oldest twin an offended look. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" He replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

"That didn't even make sense. What is it with you and the innuendos today?"

"His tiny brain can't handle anything more intellectual." Came a deep voice from the side.

"Charlie!" I ran over to give the older Weasley a hug. He'd been in the same year as my brother at Hogwarts, and they'd been fairly close, so I knew him quite well.

"How've you been May?" he asked, holding me at arms length and giving me a quick glance up and down. "I heard your parents are in Australia with James."

"Yeah, they left a few days ago, said they'd write every few days so I'm expecting a letter any day now."

"You'll have to let me know how James is doing. I haven't heard from him in a while." I nodded in agreement, making a mental note to try and remember. "How're you doing, Harry?" I stepped back as Charlie moved forward to shake Harry's hand, finding myself standing next to George who had somehow come to stand behind me.

"Hi, Harry." I had to stifle a laugh as I watched Harry hide his surprise at Bill, who had also entered the room. His appearance came as a shock to many, me included, but he was easy to get along with like nearly all the Weasleys.

Just as Harry was about to reply, everyone's attention was drawn to the faint popping noise indicating Mr Weasleys return. I took a step back to come back besides Charlie. If the bright red colour covering Mr Weasleys was any indication, he was not very happy.

"That _wasn't funny_ , Fred!" he shouted, rounding on his son. "What on earth did you give that muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything." Said Fred, holding up his hands in surrender with an evil grin that I had come to distrust long ago. "I just _dropped_ it…it was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."

"You dropped it on purpose!" bellowed Mr Weasley. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet-"

"How big did his tongue get?" asked George eagerly.

"It was four foot long before his parents would let me shrink it!" I couldn't help the laughter that burst out after Mr Weasley had finished speaking, and it seemed like I wasn't the only one. Mr Weasley glanced at everyone in the room before deciding he'd had enough. "It _isn't funny_! That sort of behaviour seriously undermines wizard-muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of muggles, and my own sons-"

"We didn't give it to him because he was a muggle!" argued Fred.

"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git, isn't he Harry?" Asked George.

"Yeah, he is, Mr Weasley." Agreed Harry, shaking his head earnestly.

"That's not the point! You wait until I tell your mother-"

"Tell me what?" came a voice behind us. Through all of Mr Weasleys shouting, we'd failed to notice Mrs Weasley enter the kitchen. "Oh, hello, Harry dear." She said, smiling down at Harry before her eyes snapped back to her husband. "Tell me _what_ , Arthur?"

I cringed at Mr Weasleys face. It was clear from his expression that he'd never actually going to tell Mrs Weasley anything. I don't think even _he_ would wish her anger on anyone. I gave Hermione and Ginny a small smile and wave, seeing them appear behind Mrs Weasley, whose face was becoming more threatening by the second. "Tell me _what_ , Arthur?"

"It's nothing, Molly." Mumbled Mr Weasley, giving his wife a sheepish look. "Fred and George just- but I've had words with them-"

"What have they done this time?" I reached back and squeezed George's hand in support as I felt him tense up behind me. "If it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes-"

"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" asked Hermione, giving a pointed look at her friend.

"He knows where he's sleeping." Replied Ron, acting clueless. "In my room, he slept there last-"

"We can all go." Pushed Hermione, again.

"Oh! Right."

"Yeah, we'll come too." Grinned George, starting to pull me with him over to his younger brother.

" _You stay where you are!_ " snarled Mrs Weasley, making me widen my eyes slightly at her tone. I'd never seen her _this_ angry before. "Not you, Maisie dear. Feel free to follow Ron." I remained where I was, only moving when I felt George's hand push on my back slightly, signaling for me to leave. Giving the twins a small smile, I ran up the stairs, deciding to sit on the landing to overhear what was going on below. A little cheeky of me, but I had nothing else to do.

"I cannot believe you two! I have _told_ you, time and time again, about this…this joke shop! Do you have _no_ ambition?"

"Of course we do, mum, but-"

"All you seem to do is get into trouble! The amount of letters I've had from Hogwarts, more than everyone else in this family combined! Percy's never had _one_ -"

"Oh, yes, well _Percy_ -"

"-and it's not as if you haven't got the brains! But you're wasting them! Why can't you take a page out of Maisie's book?" I cringed as I was brought into the conversation. I really didn't want to be something that was used against the twins. It wasn't exactly fair, on any of us. "She spends all that time with you and still manages to get top grades! Imagine what you could get if you just focused! You could have a great career in the Ministry, just like your father or Percy!" It was silent after Mrs Weasley had stopped talking. I had no idea what was going on in the twins' heads, but I could take a wild guess and it wasn't happy thoughts.

I stood up quickly as they both came up the stairs, making their way past me and storming into their room. "Don't you think you were a bit harsh there, Molly?" I heard Mr Weasley say downstairs.

"Arthur, they need to be _told_! Honestly, I can't just let them-"

I hurried after Fred and George, not wanting to hear anymore. Shutting the door gently behind me, I saw them both sitting on their beds, silently fuming. "She'll get over it." I said, sitting next to Fred and putting an arm around his shoulder. "She just needs a bit of time. What you want to do is very different from everyone else in the family; she probably just doesn't understand it."

"I wish she'd bloody hurry up and figure it out." Muttered George, glaring at a spider in the corner of the room that I slightly recoiled away from.

"I wish these bloody holidays would hurry up and end." Added Fred. "At least at Hogwarts we can test our products without mum breathing down our necks."

"I feel sorry for all those poor first years." I laughed, trying to lighten the mood, grinning when I got the twins to laugh.

* * *

Fred and George avoided their mother for the rest of the afternoon; she was obviously still very angry about the joke shop argument if her frequent shouting heard from downstairs was anything to go by.

So, with amazing stealth (for the twins anyway), we snuck past Mrs Weasley as she was busy peeling potatoes and ran into the garden, Fred and George cheering as they did so. I briefly wondered why until I turned the corner and saw Bill and Charlie enchanting two old wooden tables, making them fly through the air and crash into each other. Jogging over to where Ginny and Hermione were standing, I laughed when one of the tables' legs broke off, nearly hitting Fred in the face.

"So," started Ginny, turning to face me with a smile that I had long ago learned not to trust. She may have been three years younger than me, but somehow still scared me just a little bit. "When are you going to tell my brother that you like him?"

I froze. "W…what? I mean, first off, which brother are you talking about? You have six."

"Oh, please. It's pretty obvious, even to me." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, fine. I'll admit it. Me and Percy are hopelessly in love, but you can't tell anyone." I grinned. "It's been a long, hard journey, but I think with your support-WHAT THE HELL!?" My 'declaration of love' had been interrupted by a second table leg flying through the air, only narrowly missing my face by a couple of inches.

"Will you keep it down?" Looking up, I could see Percy's head sticking out of his window, a severely annoyed look on his face.

"Sorry, Perce." Said Bill, failing to keep the laughter out of his voice. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming?"

"Very badly." Was the short reply before the window slammed shut.

"You see." I said to Ginny as Bill and Charlie repaired the tables. "I've never wanted him more."

"Never wanted who more? Is there something you've not been telling us about Maisie?" asked Fred, slinging his arm around my shoulder with a grin. George, on the other hand, had an unreadable expression on his face which I didn't understand.

"It's nothing…" I mumbled, pushing his arm off of me and stepping to the side.

"Oh, she was just declaring her undying love for Percy, is all." Inputted Ginny. I swear, at her words, I've never seen the twins laugh more.

* * *

By the time seven o'clock had rolled around, the tables were finally in place after going through several more rounds of what I'd now called 'table wrestling' and were filled with all kinds of delicious food courtesy of Mrs Weasley. I was sat near enough in the middle of the table next to George and Bill, a seat I was very pleased with as I could hear most conversations going on at the table and to put it bluntly…well, I was quite a nosy person.

Percy was busy telling Mr Weasley all about his fascinating report on cauldron bottoms and I had to hand it to Mr Weasley, he was faking interest very well.

"I've told Mr Crouch I'll have it ready by Tuesday. That's a bit sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman-"

"I like Ludo." Interrupted Mr Weasley, mildly. "He was the one who got us such good tickets for the Cup. I did him a bit of a favour: his brother, Otto, got into a spot of trouble- a lawn-mower with unnatural powers- I smoothed the whole thing over."

"Oh, Bagman's _likeable_ enough, of course-"

"Busy listening to your future husband?" came an amused voice to my right. Turning around, I saw George smirking at me with his eyebrows raised. "I've always thought you'd make a good couple."

"Oh?" I replied back in the same tone. "Then why have you never said anything?"

"One should never meddle in true love, my dear Maisie. You should let it blossom on its own."

I paused. "Where the hell did you get that pile of crap from?" I said, laughing.

"I am very wise." I scoffed. "Okay, so I heard a group of fourth years say it in the common room last year, so what? What I don't understand is why you'd want to be with Percy when _clearly_ the best looking Weasley is sitting right here."

"Yeah, I know. But Charlie's a bit old for me so I've had to settle." George merely scoffed and turned to talk to his twin with a glare. Realizing that he was probably going to be 'mad' at me for the next few minutes, I resumed my task of listening to the others' conversation, tuning into Bill and Mrs Weasley's opposite me.  
"…with a horrible great fang on it, really, Bill, what do they say at the bank?"

"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure."

"And your hairs getting silly, dear. I wish you'd let me give it a trim…"

"I like it." Said Ginny, who was sitting next to Bill also listening in. "You're so old fashioned mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's…"

"Maybe that's Bill's inspiration." I said, grinning at Ginny. "Although you probably shouldn't shave if that's what you're aiming for, Bill." Mrs Weasley gave me a slightly disapproving look as Bill and Ginny grinned.

About to add more onto my new argument about how Dumbledore hair should become the new normal, I was distracted by a nudge in my side. "Maisie?"

"Hmmm?" I turned to George with a pointed look.

"We were talking about who we thought were going to win the World Cup." He said, gesturing to himself, Fred and Charlie. "Charlie says Ireland but Fred says Bulgaria. What do you think?"

"I…don't know. I don't really know quidditch." I shrugged.

"Just guess." Said Fred.

"Fine. Ireland." I looked at the boys' questioning faces. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for an Irish accent. That's all I'm basing my answer on."

Ignoring George's slightly put out expression (for what reason I didn't know), I jumped in shock as Mrs Weasley leapt out of her chair, causing various glasses to almost fall onto the floor. "Look at the time! You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you, you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup, the match went on for five days last time."

"Wow- hope it does this time!" exclaimed Harry, turning to Ron with an excited grin on his face.

"Well, _I_ certainly don't." inputted Percy. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred, who I could see was trying not to snicker.

"That was a sample of fertiliser from Norway! It was nothing personal!"

"It was." Whispered George, to me and Harry. "We sent it."

"What in the world possessed you to send dragon dung to your brother?" I asked as we all walked indoors. "Not that I don't love it, because Percy's an arrogant prick, but…"

"We sent it _because_ Percy's an arrogant prick." Said Fred.

"He'd brought up the topic of our joke shop up around mum…" continued George.

"…basically saying we had no ambition."

"Mum's basically got her entire argument purely from Percy and our lack of OWL results."

"Right…I definitely understand now." I laughed, slipping into Ginny's room and waving good night to the twins behind me.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, I am not really happy with this chapter, it was basically a filler until the world cup chapter which is coming up next. Hopefully the next chapter should be soon, but I'm swamped with uni stuff at the moment :( so until then!


End file.
